Posts Tagged ‘Zika Care Connect’

If you live in the New York City area, you may have seen or heard the advertisements about the Zika virus.

There has been an increase in the number of babies born in NYC who have shown signs of the virus.

The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports that since January 2017, 402 pregnant women have shown laboratory evidence of the Zika virus infection. Twenty three babies have been born with lab evidence of the infection, and 16 babies have been born with birth defects consistent with Zika virus infection during pregnancy.

It is important to note that all of these cases resulted from either travel to a Zika affected area, or through sex with an infected individual. The majority of the cases are believed to have resulted from travel to the Dominican Republic.

None of the cases are reported to have been due to local transmission, meaning no one became infected as a result of being bitten by a NYC mosquito.

What does all this mean?

Zika is still a threat, especially to pregnant women and babies. If a woman gets infected with Zika during pregnancy, the virus can pass to her baby. It can cause serious birth defects including microcephaly.

The most common way Zika is spread is by being bitten by an infected mosquito, or by having sex with an infected partner.

find services and providers in their location who take their insurance and speak their language;

find resource tools such as fact sheets and Zika checklists;

get answers to questions through a HelpLine as well as the FAQ page.

All ZCC network healthcare providers can:

stay up to date on the most recent clinical guidance issued by the CDC in order to manage and care for patients with the Zika virus;

receive patient resource tools including downloadable materials;

make and receive referrals to/from other providers within the ZCC network.

Why is the ZCC important to babies affected by Zika?

It is important that babies born to a mother who tested positive for Zika be evaluated thoroughly after birth, and regularly as they grow. Some babies do not show signs of being infected with the virus at birth, but they may have developmental problems as they get older. This is why babies need to be continuously monitored. If they need specialty care, it is important that affected babies receive help as soon as possible.

If a baby is born with a Zika-related birth defect, developmental delay or disability, parents may feel overwhelmed by their baby’s complex medical needs. They will require support and guidance as their baby receives medical care from multiple providers. Healthcare providers need to work closely with one another and the family, to monitor the baby’s development and coordinate care.

The ZCC can help parents and specialists by providing resources and a network of healthcare providers, all in one place.

The CDC just released a report that measured the number of brain related birth defects in the U.S. before and after the arrival of Zika. The study focused on data from three areas of the U.S. that track brain related birth defects – Massachusetts, North Carolina, and Atlanta, Georgia – in the year 2013-2014, before Zika arrived in the U.S.

It found that during that time, brain related birth defects occurred in 3 out of 1,000 births (.3%).

A study done looking at 2016 data shows that among women in the US with possible Zika virus infection, similar brain related birth defects were 20 times more common, affecting 60 of 1,000 pregnancies (6%).

This is a huge increase.

Here’s what we know

If a pregnant woman is infected with Zika, the virus can pass to her baby. Zika has been shown to cause a range of birth defects including brain problems, microcephaly, neural tube defects, eye defects and central nervous system problems. Although none of these birth defects are new to the medical field and they can occur for other reasons, it has been clearly established that the Zika virus can cause these serious problems, too.

Babies will require coordinated, long-term care

Babies born with Zika related birth defects will require access to coordinated medical care among a team of specialists. Such care may seem daunting to the parents and even to the medical community as they gather new information about the effects of the virus on a daily basis.

Enter the Zika Care Connect Network (ZCC)

This new website will launch in April 2017 to help parents and providers coordinate care for babies with complex medical needs due to Zika infection. The ZCC aims to improve access to medical care, which will jump-start early identification and intervention. The goal is to reduce the long-term effects of Zika on children and families by making it easier to locate a network of specialists knowledgeable about services for patients with Zika. The searchable database will feature a Provider Referral Network, patient resource tools, and a HelpLine.